It has become common for the owners of trucks to customize their trucks by providing decorative wheel covers to enhance the unattractive central portions of the wheels thereof. Trucks, however, are functional pieces of equipment and the manufacturers of trucks subordinate the physical appearance of the truck to the function. Manufacturers, therefore, do not provide wheel covers to improve the esthetic qualities of the wheels, nor do they provide attachment points for attaching such covers. Wheel covers are therefore provided by aftermarket manufacturers and wheel covers are attachable to the functional portions of the truck wheel.
Truck wheels are retained to the hub of the truck by a plurality of parallel threaded studs which extend from the hub through the web of a wheel and are retained thereon by a plurality of nuts. One method of attaching a cover across the central portion of a wheel is to provide an attachment device having holes therein for receiving the studs that attach the wheel to the hub such that the studs and lug nuts that retain the wheel to the hub also retain the wheel cover. Certain states, for example California, however, require that truck wheels be periodically inspected for cracks that incur in the vicinity of the holes that receive the studs that retain the wheel to the hub. Where portions of the web of the wheel are covered by the retainer for retaining a wheel cover, the retainer must be removed to inspect the web of the wheel in the proximity of the holes. The lug nuts that retain such wheels to the hub of a truck are installed using pneumatic or hydraulic tools and therefore the removal of a lug nut and the connector for attaching a wheel cover to expose the underlying web of the wheel would require the truck going off road to a remote location. The inspection of the wheels having a wheel cover with an attachment device that fits underneath the lug nuts can cause unacceptable delays in the use of the truck. It is therefore desirable to provide an attachment device for retaining a cover to a truck wheel without requiring the removal of the lug nuts.
One method of attaching a cover to a truck wheel is to provide a retainer with an attachment portion that wedges under a corner of the lug nut. My previously issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,653 issued May 20, 1997 discloses one device for attaching a wheel cover to a wheel, the device including an attachment plate with an arcuate portion sized to fit under the corners of a lug nut.
Wright, U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,324 discloses a device for use with a lug nut of the type having a cylindrical offset at the lower end thereof, the device including a connector plate having a pair of arcuate shaped portions sized to fit around the cylindrical lower end of the lug nut and below the corners thereof. The device of Wright, however, is not rigidly attached to the lug nuts and a wheel cover employing such an attachment may become detached from the truck wheel during use thereof.